Day 4

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Finally some cross country skiing!

We woke up this morning to more snow! We went over to the Olympic Sports Complex where the wind was howling and the snow was falling. I think when we got there the temperature was a whopping 9 degrees Fahrenheit!

My Great Uncle Jim gave Carrie a refresher course on how to ski. As part of the lesson we went to the top of a small hill and then explained how to snow plow to stop. Angela and Carrie completed the small hill with ease, but for whatever reason, I got tripped up and fell for the first time on skis in who knows how long! Yes I admit I fell!

Jim then lead the way on a simple trail through the woods that was only about 1.5km/.93 miles. It was a good trail and long enough to make us hungry! The scenery along the way was great especially with the fresh snow on all of the trees.
After we ate, Angela and Carrie went out around another trail that just went around the Nordic stadium, while Jim and I went out on a longer trail. By the time we got back from our 1.5 mile treck the temperatures had dropped, the sun was starting to go down and the girls just got back from theirs and were ready to go. It didn't take any convincing to get the rest of us on board to just head back.

We decided to go out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mr. Mikes which has some of the best pizza! While at dinner we decided the weather was not permitting to go to a neighboring town for first night festivities. When we left dinner the temperature was -1 and the windchill was -17!! We figured the New Year would come in just as well from the TV as it would in the freezing temperatures with frost bite.

As a special treat I have a video of Carrie on cross country skis! :)


ps. So Angela and Carrie have been doing this wedding workout the last couple of nights that they found on DVD. Each night I usually sit here on the couch and watch then while I blog and try not to laugh at them. Tonight however I gave it a whirl and tried what they have been complaining about for the last couple of nights, and I must say, I am sore now! These workouts don't include weights, don't include machines, but it was a workout, and good grief I'm ready for bed! Just have to stay up a little bit longer to bring in the New Year, and after midnight, I'll be getting married this year! :)!!!

Day 3

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

This morning we woke up to a pleasant surprise, SNOW! We new snow was in the forcast for last night, but we thought it was only suppose to be less than an inch. However as you can see it was closer to 4 or 5 inches!

This picture was taken about 1:30 pm yesterday afternoon.

This picture was taken about 10:00 am today!

After breakfast we headed back over to the ski jumping complex to catch another competition they had going on, however due to high winds the competition was canceled! We were able to head to the top of the 120 Meter jump and go out on the observation deck. The temperatures were much lower today especially with the howling winds that high up, and without gloves because it's harder to work the camera you know with gloves on!

Here is a picture from the top of the 120 M hill.

We then headed back into town and grabbed some lunch before we went to the Olympic Museum and some ice skating! The museum had all kinds of things from both Olympics held in Lake Placid along with other items donated by the athletes from the area. The Lake Placid area has had an Olympian in every winter olympics since they started.

After the trip through the museum we headed to the ice skating rink that was used in the 1932 Olympics. The arena was built in less than 6 months and was the first indoor arena to be used in the Olympics.

Here are me, Carrie and Angela on the ice skating rink.

Day 2

Monday, December 29, 2008

Today was a bunch of nothing. We spent the morning waiting on the cable guy, no his name wasn't Larry, to come and install the cable so we could watch the State game. Then we watched the game and unfortunately were disappointed in the outcome.

After the game we put on some more layers since the temperature has dropped to below freezing and headed over to the ski jump complex to catch the end of the NY Master's Competition. We only got to catch about 5 jumpers but it was still impressive to see them flying through the air.

For now Carrie and my sister are doing a workout from a wedding workout DVD they bought...and are actually quite sore even though they haven't been using the weights.

Tomorrow I believe we will actually get to do some winter related activities, possibly heading out to another ski jump competition, ice skating, maybe even the Olympic Museum.

Lake Placid!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

We have come back up to Lake Placid, NY once again! We arrived last night about 6:30pm to much warmer temperatures then last year. However the van was still not able to make it up the driveway with the slush still hanging on. The mercury was able to make it after much encouragement!

Today we woke up to temperatures in the 50's and all the snow had melted! We didn't do much today, we went into town to do some shopping however the sideways rain, and 20mph winds turned us around after 1 store and we decided to watch a movie in the comfort of the house.

Snow showers are in the forecast for tonight so maybe we will have some snow tomorrow and get to play in the morning. All activities tomorrow afternoon will be canceled due to the State Bowl Game!! Check out our web album for pictures!

Disclaimer: I received a new camera for Christmas so there are many pictures of me just playing with the settings. I'll try to edit those out, but if there are random pictures of random stuff, I apologize!

Kids!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Ok, so not exactly what you are thinking. Anyways, we set up a fish tank shortly after I moved into my new apartment. We decided to buy guppies and they quickly began to breed. Needless to say after losing all but one of the first set of fry I went out and bought another 10 gallon tank. We then had another pregnancy and more babies, this time able to save 5. Now we only bought 6 fish to start with. 4 males and 2 females. A couple of weeks into it, one of the males died, so we were down to 3 males and 2 females. However after returning from Thanksgiving we are the proud parents of over 30, yes I said THIRTY, baby guppies! If you are looking for a Christmas present that keeps on giving, let me know, I'm sure we can work out some sort of deal....

Here is a look at some of the newest ones, that are available!!!!

Going to the chapel and we're going to get married...

Friday, November 28, 2008

I can not even explain the amount of excitement I have been feeling the past few days!! Wednesday, the Love of My Life asked me to be his wife!!! I pretty sure my face is permanently stuck in a huge smile!!! Here is what happened:

We both had to work Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. We were heading that evening to Greenville to spend time with Chris' family for Thanksgiving before we headed to Rocky Mount on Thursday to spend time with my family. Chris had told me if I was able to get off work early to do it. So, when the opportunity arrived for me to get off work at 1:00, I took it. I then spent the next few hours, WAITING for Christopher to get off work! ;) When Chris got off work, I was all ready to leave, but Christopher kept dragging his feet. I was so confused, but I tried to wait patiently. We finally left Raleigh, and headed our way to Greenville. We were finally almost to Chris' house, when Chris said he was going to stop by his church to use the restroom before we got home. Now, mind you, Chris' church is less than two minutes from his house. I started thinking, something must be up. When we got in the church, Chris starting walking past the bathroom, and said he wanted to check out the sanctuary because his mom said they re-did it. By now, I had a very strong suspicion that my life was about to change!! :) :) :) We walked into the Sanctuary, and there sitting on the alter was a dozen red roses!! Before I knew it, Christopher was getting on one knee asking me to be his wife! :) :) :) Of course, as we are hugging and celebrating, Christopher's contact fell out of his eye! haha He claims I knocked it out, but just between me and you, I didn't! ;)

Now, let me just tell you about the ring, it is ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Here is a picture of it!!

My surprises were not over for the evening. After it was official, we left the church, and Chris told me not to call anyone yet! We headed over to his grandmother's house. We walked into the house, and all of the sudden I see the bright flash, it was my mom's camera! Chris had surprised me and invited my parents over, so we all could celebrate together.



It was so special to be able to celebrate with both of our families together! We had a blast, laughing and eating, and celebrating the soon joining of our families. After we ate, we headed back over to the church to try to get some re-enactment photos. We were all so giddy, we couldn't get any serious shots! But we sure had fun trying!

After that, my parents left, and Angela, Chris, and I went out to celebrate at Ham's with some of Chris' high school friends! We had a blast hanging out with everyone and enjoying the night with them!

To say the least, the day was more than i could ever ask for!!! I am so very blessed to be marrying Christopher! We both definitely had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season!!

The wedding planning is already in full gear!! We already have the date set out, June 27, 2009. So, everyone needs to mark their calender and have that day open. Here are a few pictures of the beginning process!

WE ARE ENGAGED!!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Just a quick note to announce we are engaged! :) Don't worry, there will be pictures and a story later to keep you informed! Please continue to pray for us as we continue to trust God in the next step of our journey!

Oh Canada!!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

So, it's been a while since we've written! On Thursday, we drove up to Montreal, Canada!! We should have known the trip was going to be interesting when we left the cabin in -26 degree weather!! To say the least, it was COLD!!! We drove without any problems, that is until we reached the Canadian customs lady! There were only two cars before us, yet it took us more than twenty minutes to get through customs! When we approached the lady, we figured it would all go smoothly, little did we know we were about to be questioned about every little thing. She asked us why we were coming in and we told her we didn't really have a plan, just wanted to visit. Apparently, that is not a good answer!!! She questioned about everything, from were we were from, to how much money we had on us and what was the balance on my credit card. She asked us several times if we were going to spend the night in Canada, even though each time we told her no, we were only visiting for the day. We got the feeling she didn't believe us. Of course, when she asked us what we were bringing into the Canada, Christopher responded two empty soda cans!! I don't thing she liked that very much! haha Eventually, she allowed into Canada, although, she had definitely taken a few notes about us as she talked with us. It was insane! We finally arrived and drove to our destination of Montreal. We went there with no map and no real plan of what we were going to do. It was an adventure to say the least. We drove the streets, realizing just how different things were. For one thing, the roads were not cleaned very well, and of course everything was in French. We learned a few French words while we were there. Another odd thing was that the stop lights were on the side of the road. This causes some confusion for some people!! ;) Once we arrived, we decided to try to find the Olympic Park in Montreal. We saw signs pointing to it that said it was only 4 km away. We drove and drove and could not find it! However, we did find the Montreal Port! We finally decided to turn back. As we were driving along, we started seeing signs for the Olympic Park again and followed them. We finally found it, but by this time we were hungry and in need of the restroom and not interested in paying so much money to even park. Therefore, we took a picture and went on.

Our next mission was to find somewhere to eat. We drove and decided on this little restaurant called Restaurant La Belle Province. It was really good! Christopher got two hot dogs, Canadian style with a side of Poutine. Poutine is basically fries, cheese curd, and gravy. It is very Canadian and very good! We really enjoyed the food!

After we ate, we decided to drive downtown Montreal. We drove through and it amazed me just how similar it looked to any big city such as New York City. Once we drove through, it was time for us to head back.

Our entrance back into the United States went much smoother than our entrance to Canada. The guy was really nice and funny! He let us through without a problem. Ironically, Christopher's great aunt and uncle and Angela and Amy were two cars behind us and actually went to the same customs guy. He remembered us when they went through! We had a great trip to Canada and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, even though we had no real plan!! It was great!

On our way back to Lake Placid, we made a little side stop at the North Pole! Christopher suprised me and took me to the North Pole! I was very excited! This is a real place with even a real US Postal Office!! I was so happy to go there!!

We have finally arrived back in North Carolina. We drove Friday for 17 hours and made it back to Greenville around 2:30 am Saturday morning! We all seemed to have a great time, just a little tired!! It was a great trip and i am so glad that i got to go!! We had a blast!! We are all now just trying to recover from a very long day of driving!

P.S. We are still going to continue to update this page with other interesting things that Christopher and I find ourselves doing! So, stayed tuned for more blogs to come!

COLD!!!!!!!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Well, it's been a while since we've written. Let's just say we've been busy in the snow!! We have received lots and lots of snow! Yesterday we were suppose to go Cross Country Skiing, however, when we got out on the roads, we quickly discovered that the roads had not yet been cleared, therefore, we went right back to the cabin. Instead, we spent a the morning working out in the snow. We had lots of fun out in the snow! We knocked down some huge snow mounds and made snow angels in the thick snow! Christopher made a Polar Hut out one of the snow mounds!


That night we had dinner with Chris' great aunt and uncle and had Christmas!

Today, we got up ready to spend another day out on the slopes! As we got ready to leave, we watched the temperature continually drop outside. By the time we made it to the slopes, the temperature was between 6-8 degrees, with a windchill of around -15. To say the least it was cold!! I decided to join Chris in trying down hill skiing. Angela has mastered snowboarding, so she continued snowboarding. We got out on the slopes and immediately realized how cold it really was outside! We were only able to go down a few times before we had to come in a get warm before going back outside again. I've decided I enjoy skiing much better than snowboarding. Unlike the other day, I only fell down twice. When I was snowboarding i fell down twice every 30 seconds. Christopher was very patient in teaching me how to ski. I was able to successfully go down several slopes without ever falling!! Christopher really seems to be enjoying his new skis!! Angela is doing an amazing job on the snowboard!!


On our way home, Chris' dad looked down at the temperature and the thermometer read 1 degree. The temperature is continually dropping!! Right now, the temperature is -9. I'm pretty sure, i will not be complaining quite as much about the temperature in North Carolina anymore!! We are all pretty tired and worn out from a very cold and exciting day!! Tomorrow we plan on driving to Montreal, Canada!! I am very excited, because i've never been to Canada before!! I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!!

P.S. We are still popping Ibuprofen!!!!

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Just a quick comment before we head out for some cross country skiing. When we woke up the forecast has changed drastically. Now the forecast has us getting 3-5 inches of snow before noon and 8-10 inches from noon to midnight! Let's just say it's coming down out there now, and it's only going to double! Looks like it's going to be a short day on the cross country trails, but with how sore this crowd is after yesterday, the rest will be nice!

Now to find the ibuprofen...

Snowboarding!!

Today we finally made it out to Whiteface for some skiing and snowboarding. It was Carrie's first attempt at snowboarding, so she, Angela and Amy took some lessons and seemed to have a great time! The weather has been cold all day, around 20-25, and constant snow this morning. We woke up to about 5 inches of fresh snow, which of course meant we had to dig the car out so we could go.

The girls did a great job in their lesson, once something clicked with Angela she seemed to be able to do it pretty well and was then able to give Carrie and Amy some pointers that their instructor forgot to point out which seemed to help them a great deal. I have to say, I got quite the entertainment out of going on a run with Carrie and Angela and the interesting rituals snowboarders have, for example, after they would fall, they would each grab a handful of snow and eat it before starting their next 20 yard decent to find more snow to eat. This was the first time I was able to ski on my brand new skis I got for Christmas and they were wonderful!!! Truly a great Christmas present to go along with the boots I got last year.

After we hobbled back from the mountain with all of their sore muscles and took the shuttle back to Lake Placid, we sat around the cabin for a little bit before heading out to some First Night festivities in Saranac Lake. When we got there we discovered to go inside and hear any of the concerts going on you had to purchase a button for 10 bucks and since it was already after 10 we thought it would be pointless so we headed back to Lake Placid to get a pizza from our favorite place, Mr Mike's. Just before midnight we headed back to Saranac Lake and saw them drop the snow flake and enjoyed a fireworks display that seemed to go on forever. Even though they lasted only 20 mins, when the temperatures are in the lower 20's without the windchill, it's long!

Later I'll get Carrie to blog a little about her experience snowboarding, but for now, we are worn out! Happy New Years!